August 7 2015
What a night. It is undoubtedly the best backpacking story I have. If you haven’t read it, see here :
http://thxfortheadventure.blogspot.com/2015/08/so-this-happened.html
So leaving at 630AM is a bit better than 130AM. The drunks are till out or starting to find a nice bench to pass out on, but something about the sunlight makes them look more pathetic than threatening.
Brno was SO challenging for me…. So, I go to the train station and try to explain my situation to a 50+ year old woman we will call Bruna.. I really was trying to be as polite as I can with the three Czech words I googled at the hostel. I had already looked up the trains I wanted, and was showing her on my phone, but she understood I wanted the next train to Krakow. [Oh, well actually to get from Brno to Krakow, there are NO direct trains. I have to take at least 3 different trains to get there. AHHH so frustrating! I would have woken up in Krakow instead I woke up on a wooden floor and am speaking to a woman that hates me for not speaking Czech!]
Bruna is exasperated and just shoves my tickets under the window… The itinerary she gave me was literally take almost 10 hours! So I try someone else…
This woman is MUCH more understanding. She books at 1102AM train then will need to catch 1420 tran in a small city in the Czech Republic to take me to Katowice and from there make a train for Krakow. Cool!
So now to leave my bag in a locker, take out WAYYYY too much money from the ATM (currency changing every other country is really killer) and off to the city to explore for a few hours!
So Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, but it definitely doesn’t feel like that. The old town was really beautiful!
And I was able to go buy some sandwich material and eat in the main square, Namesti Svobody.
Since nothing was opened yet (it is before 8AM remember) I decide to go check out the castle.
The view is always so nice :)
One of the major tourist attractions in Brno is the maze of underground (3 meters at its deepest point below the roads) storage cellars. It gets quite hot during the summer and during the middle ages, people began to dig under their homes to make these cellars for storage. They eventually developed into this very complicated network of cellars (connected by tunnels) that much of the wine produced in Brno as well as food stuff (they literally could have ice stay frozen down here throughout the year) was stored! It also ended up being an important place for cultural and scholarly gatherings- lots of pubs down there too! They were just excavated and restored within the last 10 years. It’s a cool museum, and there are two parts to it. I just did the food storage one and not the catacombs.
Lastly, went up a bell tower to get the panorama view
And back to the train station with like 20 minutes to spare! Grab my bag, exchange money, and ask people which is my train. I do NOT want to make a mistake again. Brno was nice but maybe under different circumstances I would have enjoyed it more.
So. The confusing thing is that on my ticket, and on the digital train timetables, there are 2 numbers. One is the platform, and one is something else. I don’t know what else. So I am told to go to platform 3.
I still have like 10 minutes! I ask two people around me if I am on the right platform. One says definitely yes. The other says he’s not sure.
I wait. Hmmm it’s 1101… My train leaves at 1102 and it is still not here. That’s werid
Waiting…. It’s 1112. Finally a train goes by. Keep in mind, there is no sign or indication of the destination at the platform. I ask the conductor, double check myself andddd
No. It’s 1115 Boubin left at 1102.
WHAT!?!?! I have been waiting here since like 1050. And againn, this guy has no sympathy…
Ughhhhh so back to the train station ticket desk. Hey Bruna! She gives me a stare that could kill.
I am really fighting back anger and frustration. Not her fault or anyones fault. Bruna again gives me a really weird train ticket itinerary.. I would be arrive after 21h now!
I go to another counter, and basically just ask for the next train to Boubin, the train I missed. There is one at 1202. Okay I will take that one and figure it out from there. I ask her the platform. There are again two numbers on my ticket!
She doesn’t understand my question…. This German man tries to help except he also doesn’t speak Czech and Bruna 2 is getting frustrated because she is just yelling "three" at me. What does the other number mean? German man asks the line of people watching all this go down if anyone speaks English.. This girl, probably my age, avoids eye contact… but as me and Bruna 2 are basically just yelling at each other in different languages, young girl steps in and asks nicely.
I FINALLY figure it out. Platform 4, but on each platform there are different sections that are also numbered. So for my last train, I was standing at the area of 3 but on the wrong platform. So that sucks. And what is more, if my 1202 train is on time, I will arrive to Boubin at 1435. 15 minutes after my second train to Krakow leaves. 15 minutes! And the next train leaves at 19h…
The train to Boubin was one of the most miserable experiences. I am tired, angry, hungry, and sweating my face off because this train has no airconditioning with only two slivers that are posing as windows. It is only bearable when we are moving so the hot air circulates--but we stop every 10 minutes.
We arrive at 1435…. I run out to see, just see, if by some miracle the train I was supposed to take is still there. On the billboards, the 1420 to Katowice is still posted! I RUN to the platform, this time there is only 1 number, and there are people standing around.
I ask this guy standing there… “Are you waiting on the train to Katowice”
-“Yeah it’s actually been delayed for 35 minutes ..it’s crazy”
HOLY SHIT I AM GOING TO KRAKOW! Told him my story… I was able to make him feel better about his train troubles that he had that day as well. His name is Jack and he’s from [drumroll pleaseeeee] Australia!
Jack works as a contractor so basically he has 9 months work and then 3 months holiday. Nice gig. The time on the trains flyssss by and before we know it- we have made it to Krakow on time at 1830! I am so relieved. And the place I stayed was literally a block from the train station. Things are finally turning around :D
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